I saw this meme on It’s All About Booksand thought, I like this!! So, I decided to do it once a month also. Many thanks to Yvonne for initially posting this!!
This post is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are lovely and take you to places you would never get to. That includes places of fantasy, too!!
Bon Voyage!!
Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas.
Countries I visited the most:United States, Canada, France
States I visited the most:New York, Pennsylvania, California, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oregon
Cities I visited the most:New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Paris
United States
Ohio (Valentine)
New York (New York City), Massachusetts (Nantucket)
Illinois (Liberty)
New York (Gouverneur, Syracuse, Dunkirk), Pennsylvania (Centralia)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), New Jersey (Blackwood, Camden)
California (Arcata)
Missouri (St. Louis), Kentucky (Lexington)
New York (New York City, Athens)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), New York (New York City), Mississippi (Jackson, Natchez)
New York (New York City)
California (Pixie, Fresno)
Arizona (Tucson), California (LosAngeles), Oregon
Louisiana (New Orleans)
Mississippi (Cottonbloom), Louisiana (Cottonbloom), Washington (Seattle)
Washington D.C., New York (New York City)
Oregon (Ashland)
California (Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Francisco),New York (New York City)
During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale
January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.
As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely.
First Line:
Freddie’s clothes ca me to Veith Street instead of Blackthorn House, and the telegram that ought to have preceded them didn’t reach Laura at all.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Important things you need to know about the book:
Pace: Slow to medium. Once the author explained the backstories, the pacing slowed way down, almost to a snail’s pace. That caused the storyline to drag in some spots. The pace did pick up to medium at the end of the book.
POV:3rd person (told by Laura, Freddie, and occasionally Hans Winter).
Trigger Warnings: There are scenes involving war themes & military violence (on-page), death (on and off page), blood (on page), death of parents (off page but how Laura found her mother was on-page), violence (on page), medical content (on page), injury & injury detail (on and off page), gore (on page), grief (on page), medical trauma (on page), body horror (on page), panic attacks (on page), murder (on page), gaslighting (on page), gun violence (on page), confinement (on page), suicidal thoughts (on page), xenophobia (on and off page), fire and fire injury (on page), post traumatic stress disorder (on page), alcohol consumption (on page), dead bodies & body parts (on and off page), needles (on page), physical injuries (on and off page), scars (on page), disappearance of a loved one (on page), explosions (on page), knife violence (on page), chemical gassing & warfare (on and off page), and riot (on page). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.
Language: There is little to no swearing used in The Warm Hands of Ghosts. There is language used that could be offensive to some people.
Setting:The Warm Hands of Ghosts is primarily set in WWI-era Belgium. There are several chapters set in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There are also stops in England and France.
Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):
Laura, a renowned WWI nurse, had been sent home when she sustained an injury to her leg. While she is recuperating, a horrific explosion of a ship kills and injures hundreds of people. Her mother was killed, and her father was presumed dead (he was at ground zero for the attack). Several days after the explosion, Laura receives a package containing her brother Wilfred’s (a.k .a. Freddie’s) personal effects. However, several things do not make sense or are missing. So Laura and her friend Pim travel to Belgium to help in a hospital in The Forbidden Zone. But Laura is also there to look into her brother’s death/disappearance. What she uncovers defies any sense of reason, and when she finds out that Freddie is caught up in that web, Laura will move heaven and earth to save him.
Characters:
The two main characters in The Warm Hands of Ghosts are the Iven siblings, Laura and Freddie. I liked that the author showcased their strong relationship on top of creating well-rounded, well-written characters. These characters were well fleshed out, and I was able to form a connection with both of them. I connected with Laura more than Freddie, but that was because she was in the book more.
Numerous other secondary characters added depth to the main storylines. But the ones that stood out the most to me were Pim, Winters, and Faland. Pim, because she was devastated and haunted by the death of her only son in this war. She was clinging to a fragile hope that he was still alive. Winters, because he was the strongest out of all the characters. His bond with Freddie transcended anything, and I liked that he saw Faland for who he was and was ready to move mountains to get Freddie back. And lastly, Faland. I will leave a minor spoiler here (because otherwise, my references wouldn’t make sense), but Faland was an aspect of the devil. He dealt with stealing souls and secrets. His entire character was contrasts.
My review:
I had eagerly waited for Katherine Arden to release her newest adult novel since The Winter of the Witch was published. I had read her middle-grade series, Small Spaces, and while it was good, it wasn’t what I wanted to read from her. So, when I saw that Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Del Rey had The Warm Hands of Ghosts as a wish on NetGalley, I immediately clicked that button. And I was thrilled when I saw that they had granted my wish. This book is one of my top choices for February.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts has dual storylines. Freddie’s storyline starts in November1917 when he and Winters are trapped in a pillbox. Laura’s storyline begins in January 1918, right after the Halifax Explosion. Both storylines were well-written and well-fleshed out. The storyline did drag once Laura arrived in Belgium and went to The ForbiddenZone. But it picked back up when Winters connected with Laura. Once the storylines merged, the book flowed better but kept up that same medium-slow pace until the end.
I do have a trigger warning list above, but I want to reiterate that this book takes place on the battlefield. There are explosions, people dying, body parts, and people suffering from mental trauma portrayed in the book. This book also takes place during WWI, when chemical warfare was widely used and the effects from the chemicals were awful. It makes for a sad and often frightening background. I didn’t mind it and thought it only accentuated Freddie’s time with Faland and Laura’s quest to find him. But some people might be triggered. So, go into reading this book with care.
The fantasy angle of The Warm Hands of Ghosts was exciting and, at the same time, a little scary. Freddie got sucked into something that was beyond him, and when Winters left (unwillingly, might I add), his sense of time got hazy. I liked how the author connected music to the magic that Faland did and a mirror that showed your true heart’s desire. The haziness of Freddie’s recollections and the music make for an almost dreamlike state that Freddie lived in.
The end of The Warm Hands of Ghosts was bittersweet. I won’t get into it, but the damage that was done by the war was immense. That’s all I can say without giving away spoilers. I liked Laura’s spot of happiness on the last page.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, NetGalley, and Katherine Arden for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Warm Hands of Ghosts. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to The Warm Hands of Ghosts, then you will enjoy these books:
Other books by Katherine Arden
Suggested Playlist (feel free to add songs or remove songs)
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet and share what you have been and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kid-lit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle-grade novels, young adult novels, or anything in those genres – join them.
What I am Reading Now:
In this YA pop-punk debut about queer romance and destroying labels, a teen risks everything to write his own story. Perfect for fans of Sonora Reyes and Adib Khorram.
Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.
Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.
As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.
From a debut author to watch, Skater Boy delivers a heart-wrenching, validating, and honest story about what it means to be gay in a world where you don’t fit in.
Books I plan on reading later this week
What if everything you know about the worst night of your life turns out not to be true?
Nine years ago, with the world’s eyes on her, Charlie Colbert fled. The press and the police called Charlie a “witness” to the nightmarish events at her elite graduate school on Christmas Eve—events known to the public as “Scarlet Christmas”—though Charlie knows she was much more than that.
Now, Charlie has meticulously rebuilt her life: She’s the editor-in-chief of a major magazine, engaged to the golden child of the publishing industry, and hell-bent on never, ever letting her guard down again. But when a buzzy film made by one of Charlie’s former classmates threatens to shatter everything she’s worked for, Charlie realizes how much she’s changed in nine years. Now, she’s not going to let anything—not even the people she once loved most—get in her way.
During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale
January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.
As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely.
